Ex-Samsung executive indicted for stealing trade secrets for China

Prosecutors say leaks deal $233m blow to South Korean chipmaker

Presidents Joe Biden and Yoon Suk Yeol, with Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong at a Samsung campus in May 2022. With South Korea in the middle, Yoon has referred to the chip industry competition between the U.S. and China as "all-out war." © Reuters

KIM JAEWON, Nikkei staff writer

June 12, 2023 20:13 JST

Updated on June 12, 2023 22:06 JST

SEOUL -- A former Samsung Electronics executive was indicted on Monday for allegedly stealing semiconductor production secrets to build a rival plant in China.

The Suwon District Prosecutors' Office said it had charged a 65-year-old former Samsung executive with leaking corporate secrets to a foreign country. The allegations come against a backdrop of U.S.-China tensions and after Washington blocked Beijing from accessing advanced chip technologies.